Hood fastener



Nov. l, 1932. v c. R. HENNICKE 1,885,824

HOOD F'STENER Filed Sept. 9. 1930 fyi. 18 l@ 39.2.

I 25 MIL] 1 Patented Nov. 1, 1932 @rms-nm lts'safs'ai i "CARL R. HENNICKE, or: CLEVELAND, omo

Hoon FASTENER Application sie@ separates, 1,930, serial No. isaeio. i

My invention relates particularly to hood fasteners for automobiles although, in itsf broader, aspects, the invention pertains to a fastener for .any type of closure.

j the past, it has been customary tov secure theengine hoods of motor vehicles in their loweredl or closed position by means offas- `tening members pivoted tothe vehicle frame and having a spring-urged hookfor engag- 10 ing a lug on the hood. rl`his construction is objectionable for a number of reasons. ln; the first pla-ce, the appearance of the vehicleis marredby the attachment of the hood. fas-Y teners to. the outside of the body where they 15 are vplainly visible Another lobjection is` that such fasteners make it diihcult to clean the hood. The general practice istoprovid'e a polished. or plated surface for the hood fastener, which makes its construction some-V what expensive.; A further objection is that the working, parts of the fastener are exposed to theweather, and subject to rapid deterioration for that reason. In addition, all hood fasteners with which I am familiar are chartion. The present invention has for its objects to. eliminate the foregoing objections to known types; of hood fasteners. I Vprovide ahood. U fastener which isvv located inside or under the hood, so that allfthe working parts, with the exception of a single operating handle, are concealed from view. k'lhis'construction considerably improves the appearance of the en` 31. gine hoo`d3and facilitates cleaning the latter.

Since only the operating handle projects from the hood, it is. not essential ,that the other parts bev polished or plated. The cost of manufacture is thus reduced. Other advantages of the' invention Vreside in the fact that it islveryjeasily operated by means of the pivoted' operating handle and, at the same time, may b e securely locked in the closed po.. sitionf. All` the working parts, furthermore, with, the exception of the operating handle, are protected from the. weather, since they are enclosedbythe hood, so that long life and satisfactory operation of the deviceis insured.

45,., Y In accordance with. the invention, Isecure ..5 acterizedby considerable difficulty in operaav bracket onfthe inside of the lengineV hood forl slidably supporting a, verticallyreciprocable hook; An eye plate, secured to a fixedV member fof the vehicle vframe or chassis, re? c eiv'es the hook to secure the hood incloseolV position. I employ a compression spring for resiliently urging the Yhook towards S `Qp erative position. For withdrawing the hookl and foi` compressing the spring, Ieniploy a toggle mechanismvhaving an operating han-y dle projecting outwardly from `the hood.. This mechanism. permits .the'fastenerfto 'beoperated with very slight eiforh f For a complete'understanding of' the iinvention, reference should be, mad-e. to the aocomp/anying drawing illustrating a present preferred embodiment O the inveIliJQIl, though it is to be understood that. the drawing is illustrative only, since other construe-l tions embodying the invention may here: sorted to within the scope'ofthe broader claims.V

In the drawing-, y Y f Figure 1 isa front elevation-ofthe inventionsepara-ted f romthe engine hood` vwith which `it adaptedtocooperate3f Figure Zi'saside elevation ofthe invention, showing the cooperating-portions of the enf ginehoodand vehicle frame inchain lines Figure is a side elevation ofthe engine hood with the operating handle oftheffas-- j tenerfprojecting therethrough; `Figure 4; isa sectional view along thefline lV-IV of lliigure 1;' and'y Figuref is a perspective View of ajdetai'l. Referring `specifically to the d rawi'ng5fthe invention. comprises a, bracket or frame niember 10. The bracket lOis adapted. to `be sei cured tothe insidefof an engi-inefhood indicated at 1i by means of rivets or bolts. .The bracket isV perforated at l2 fon this. piinpose.,

Adjacent its lower mitm-,bracket 1,0 is 'ref cessed at 13,. and hollow boss 154, pr. ojectk j ingoutwardly from theplane ofl the brackety isformed thereon; Thisfboss is. adapted to an opening in project through. the hood' 11.

The ends of.l the bracketfl() arefiiangedl' over'at 1'6, and the,flanged ends are.Y prof;

vided. with square holes Vfor the; receptionl of a square rod 18. The rod 18 is adapted to slide vertically in the bracket 10, and has its lower end turned up at 19 to form a hook. An eye plate 20, having an opening 21, is secured to the frame 22 of the vehicle. A portion of the metal punched from the opening 21 is bent upwardly at 23 sothata somerounds the rod 18 below the washer 26 and its lower end is supported by a' spring carriage 29.` The spring carriage, as shown in.l1`igi1re 5, is a metal strip formed intora rectanglehaving square holes in its ends for receiving the rod 18.'v In addition, an eye' 31 is formed integrally with the carriage 29 atoneend. Y l` A The spring 28, being compressed' between the bottom of the carriage 29 and the washer 27, urgesV the latter againstthe clip 2,5 toV prevent its removal frorntheslots24in the ma 18. y y

'A yoke 32`traverses the eye y31y in the carriage 29. `A forkr 33 having anoutwardly extending 'handle is pivoted in the boss 14 on a pin 35 and cooperates with the yoke 32 to jform a toggle linkage. -By meansV of this linkage, the spring 28 may becornpre'ssed o'r'released to' actuate therod 18 and its hook 19. v

In describing the operation, it willV be assumed first that the parts 'havethe position indicated in solid lines. The handle 34'is depressed and the toggle linkage 32-33 is in its extendingposition. This causes the carriage 29 to be raised 'and the spring 28 to be compressed The Vspring`28, through .the washer 27 and clip 25, resiliently urges ,the`

rod 18 upward, so that the hook19 engages the eye plate 20 and draws the hood 11 downwardlyV and inwardly to. its closed position. If is now desired. to ,raise ,the hood, itis only necessary to pull ythe handle 34 outwardly to the dotted position 36.1l As is cus-A tomary with the present vtype Vof fastener, I propose to. employ two fasteners on each side of the hood. y When the handle 34 has been retracted to the position 36, thetoggle link-` age `32-33 will have collapsed partially and thecarriage 29 lowered to the dotted posi-y tion 37. In this position lof the parts, the spring exerts no upward pressure on the rod 18 and the top of the carriage 29 'engages the .clip 25. Although` the hook 19 remains in Vthe position indicated in solid lines, the hood ll'zmay be A,pulledfaway from the yeye plate 20,-whereupon the engagement of the curved portion -23 withI the. hook'y 19 will force it '21S a' reerererhelder .for the...

ering ofthe hook 19, by -reason of the positive engagement of the top of the carriage 29 with the clip 25, When the hook is `lowered to the dotted position 39, the hood may,

of course, be withdrawn laterally and lifted with very .little effort. The hooks 19, having been disengaged from the eye plates 20, the hood 11 may now be conveniently raised by lifting the handles 34.

When it is desired to replace the hood and lock it into position, it is lowered and moved inwardly so that the hooks 19,0ccupying the position 39, enter the openings 21 in the'eye` plates 20; ,'VVhen the hooks have been thus' positioned, the handles 34 are pressed down.

untilthey occupy the'position shown'invsolid lines. This movement of the handle 34" com` pressesv the spring 28 by raising the carriage 29. The compression of the spring 28 raises vthe rod V18 and draws the hook-19 into'firin engagement with the curved portion 23 of the eye plate 20, so that the hood 1l is'drawn tightly against the vehicle frame.i As the toggle linkage 32-33'is forced home to its l extended. position, "all the. partsare locked again retracted. i Y I It will be obvious from the foregoing dei scription that the invention constitutes a distinct improvement over the outside vtype of Vhood fastener known heretofore. As already pointed out specifically, the appearance of the hood is'improved by placing Vthe operating parts on the inside thereof, andVA protection from the weather isv likewise afforded wardY or upward pressure on the handle 34 toY engage or disengage the ho`ok19. This is a great improvement over the present type in which `it isnecessary that the operator leanover the fender of the vehicle and exert ahconsidera'ble effort toxraise the fasteners to t e the hood. v Y f Y By lengthening the handle 34, the Vlever arm maybe increased so that 'a very small effort is required t'o operate the. fastener. Thelong travel of the rod insuresV easy engagement of the hook' 19 with the eye plate 20 'at all times, even thoughv the normal sepa`- ration of these parts is increasedas, forv eX- ample, by a distortionof the vehicle-frame in case it isstanding onany angle. The angle which'the hook 19 makes with the rod l18 is also important. The acute V,angle .between the hook and the rod causes; the hood to be pulled in .tightly against. the vehicle frame and thus preventing rattle.

against movement `until thefhandles 34 lare position which they'engagethe lugson l The toggle link- *if iig age for actuating the hook-operated spring permits the latter to be locked in the closed positionV against all possibility of accidental disengagement as a'result of shock or vibration. At the same time, the operating hanbe round in section with a key or-guide on the bracket 10 to prevent it from turning. Instead of providing the rod 18 with the hook 19 4for securing the eye plate to the frame, this relation may be reversed' by providing a hook on the frame and securing an eye to the lower end of the rod 18.- The described construction combines economy of manufacture with neat appearance, and is preferred for that reason, but any changes therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim: Y 1. A hood fastener comprising an eyeplate, a hook rod for engaging said eye-plate,

a bracket for slidably supporting the hook rod, a spring surrounding the rod, a spring carriage slidable on said rod, and a toggle linkage pivoted to the bracket and' carriage for compressing the spring to operate the Y hook rod.

2. In a hood fastener, a bracket, a hook rod slidable therein having an end portion adapted to enter an eye, a spring on said rod, a

spring carriage slidable on the rod, and a togbetween thehandle bifurcations, a spring on the rod, spring engaging means slidable on the rod, and a yoke connecting-said springengaging means and said bifurcations.

6. A hood holder comprising a plate, porl tions ofthe plate forming guides, ahook rod` slidable therein, and hook actuating means including a pivoted lever, a yoke forming al toggle linkage therewith, and means engaged by said yoke for resiliently actuating the Vhook rod.

7 In a hood fastener, the combination with n a base plate, a hook rod slidable therein, a toggle linkage pivoted on said plate, and means for resiliently actuating said rod connected to said linkage.

8. In a hood holder, a plate, a hook rod l slidable thereon,` a toggle linkage for operat- I ing said hook rod, comprising a member pivoted on said plate and projecting therethrough, a second' member pivotally connected to said first-mentioned member,and a resilient spring-actuatingmeans on said rod, having a pivotal connection with said second member. Y Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto setv my hand. f

V CARL R. I-IENNICKE.

gle linkage pivoted tothe carriage and the v bracket.

3. `A hood fastener comprising a bracket, a handlepivoted thereon having a projecting fork, a hook rod slidable in the bracket, a spring surrounding the rod, spring engaging means slidable on saidrod, and a link pivoted to said means and said fork forming a toggle linkage for operating said rod.

4. A hood holder comprising a plate having portions for slidablyreceiving a hook rod, a spring surrounding said rod, springengaging means slidable on the rod, an operating handle pivoted on said plate, and a link connectingV said operating handle and Vsaidspring engaging'means, forming a toggle linkage.

` 5. A hood fastener comprising a plate, an

operating handle pivotally supported thereon in bearing lugs struck out from said plate,

said handle having a bifurcated fork por-- llOv ies

tion, a hook rod slidable relative to said plate I 

